


If you have nightmares, we'll dance on the bed

by LeFay_Strent



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood, Character Death, Fae & Fairies, Gen, Magic, Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Violence, kingdom au, not in-depth gore I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-01-23 06:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21315349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeFay_Strent/pseuds/LeFay_Strent
Summary: Fae thrived on chaos and the fear that came with it.Well, most of them anyway.Virgil never really shared that sentiment.Or alternatively, the story of how Virgil loves humans so much that he makes stupid decisions because of it, like save princes from attempted assassinations.
Comments: 150
Kudos: 508





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER: Blood mention, off-screen minor character death

It had been a week since the king and queen disappeared.

Selbion was a fairly large kingdom. Delays were expected.

But this?

“I’m worried,” Patton admitted. He shifted uncertainly, his armor clinking lightly yet far too loudly in the eerier quiet. “But hey, no news is good news, right? We can’t just give up.”

Roman kept pacing as if he hadn’t heard a word he’d said. Eyes glued to the floor, his staccato steps tapped out a rigid line across the study’s hardwood floor. Despite not having slept in days, he couldn’t bear to rest.

Patton sighed. He knew how hard his friend was taking this, how much it pained him to have nothing left to do after they’d exhausted all of their efforts. As a military general, it was his duty to protect both country and crown.

Patton could understand that. Being one of the castle guards, he’d spent years around the royal family. He saw them underneath the face of politics, saw their ups and downs, their consideration and love for their citizens second only to each other. Patton saw them as people, as _friends_, and he didn’t want to know what would happen if the king and queen didn’t return. Their one and only son was far too young to be an orphan or to take their place. Thomas was a good kid, his parents were _good people_.

Patton had to keep hoping. The alternative was too heartbreaking.

Logan, who had been silent at his desk, spoke up, “No one is giving up. But as it stands, we are in the middle of a time of war. And when you consider that their majesties and entourage disappeared completely in the midst of traveling . . . the evidence suggests an answer that does not bode well.”

“I should be out there,” Roman grumbled not for the first time. He still refused to look at them, glaring down at the floor. “I’m useless here.”

“You’re also useless running on no energy. Tell me Roman, when was the last time you’ve eaten?”

Roman didn’t respond. His pacing increased.

“You need to slow down, Roman.”

“Bite me,” Roman snarled under his breath. Logan offered no quip back. He wouldn’t give Roman the fight he wanted.

Everything was hurtling downward, trapped in a relentless gravity. Patton felt just as useless as the rest of them. Try as they might to keep the situation discreet, rumors were abound throughout their cities. Their people would start demanding answers soon.

And what answer did they have to give?

Logan perked up, his writing quill falling limply onto the table. He jumped up and threw open a window. Roman stopped his pacing and both he and Patton waited with bated breath when a bird landed on the windowsill. It wasn’t an ordinary bird, of course. Its body pulsed a light blue light, a clear sign of its magic origins.

Logan’s hand made contact with the bird, and its body burned bright, the little thing shifting into something more tangible: a scroll.

Quickly, Logan untied the bindings and opened it. His eyes darted across the written words.

“Well?” Roman asked, impatient. “Say something, damn it!”

Logan’s posture was too stiff, his grip on the parchment too tight. A guillotine’s blade hung above them. Their hands were shackled, and all that was left was to wait for the inevitable.

“Their Majesties’ carriage has been found. No one was neither left inside nor around it, though their clothes were laid inside, and . . . everything was covered in blood.”

Patton covered his mouth, shaking his head as if that would stop it from being real.

Logan lowered the scroll. He stared outside the open window.

“At this time we can only assume that they are deceased.”

“What could—” Patton choked out. “What—_who _could have—”

“Who do you think?” Roman rasped.

This was a message, bold and to the point.

The head of their kingdom had been cut off.

Cut off the head and the body will flounder.

* * *

In the darkest depths of the farthest reaches of forest surrounding the kingdom of Selbion, a nest of nightmares called it home.

Humans knew about them of course. Knew the dangers of straying too far. Knew to raise their children with warnings of the monsters in the forest who would love to gobble them up.

Everyone knew about the Fae. But for the most part, they didn’t really encounter them.

Not until recently.

Because in recent years, the Fae—who had always been so fond of their forests and were not wont to leave it—had begun venturing out.

They’d always had a penchant for bloodshed. As human as their appearance may be (albeit, with features just a bit off—too beautiful, too sinister, too unnatural), the Fae showed their disdain and malice towards humans to any poor soul that wandered into their den.

But apparently that wasn’t enough. They wanted more. Lately, they’d been encroaching on Selbion’s boarders, striking the smaller farm villages on the outskirts until they moved on to bigger prey. Not long after, Selbion declared war on the fair-folk.

Now though, the king and queen were dead, leaving behind their only successor, Prince Thomas.

Thomas was only six years old. Already he has had to face more struggle than any child should.

And more still is to come.

* * *

As the humans ran around frantic to recover, the Fae rejoiced. 

Killing the king and queen hadn’t been as calculated as believed. It had merely been opportunistic. Right time, right place, right opening to take advantage of and so they did.

The resulting chaos was _beautiful_.

Fae thrived on chaos and the fear that came with it.

Well, most of them anyway.

Virgil never really shared that sentiment.

On and on the forest had been abuzz with news of the royals’ deaths. So many were foaming at the mouth as they watched the humans tripping over themselves. It incited them for more violence. Greedy bastards that they were, they talked about the little prince and how he should go next. How would their precious kingdom move on then?

It . . . hadn’t always been like this.

Sure, there were many of them who would strike a human down where they stood just for the fun of it. But a lot of them had been rather neutral. They kept to the forests. That’s just what they did. They didn’t go out looking to be the bringers of humankind’s demise.

Virgil missed the calm of years past. As he watched others of his kind give in to their thirst for hostility, he kept to himself.

Or rather, he tried to keep to himself.

Maybe Virgil really was the weird one here. Because he’d met a human for the first time decades ago and . . . he hadn’t wanted to claim or maim them. They were . . . Humans were . . .

Soft.

And _vibrant_.

And warm in ways his kind weren’t.

They made Virgil’s chest tighten in the most peculiar ache.

Virgil . . . he _loved _humans.

The escalating actions of the other Fae had unnerved him. But hearing some of the others actively plan to kill the young prince was the last straw.

“Tonight,” Remus promised darkly.

“Tonight,” Deceit agreed.

And Virgil knew that they were going to go farther than any of them had gone before, that they would go to the capital and infiltrate the castle.

So Virgil infiltrated the castle first.


	2. Chapter 2

It was easy to blend into the shadows and slink around unnoticed. The humans actually thought they were safe here, their guard too lax even in the frenzy left behind after the king and queen were murdered.

To be fair, no Fae had been crazy enough to step foot into the capital city, let alone the castle.

Virgil imagined Remus and Deceit and all the others snickering at him for thinking they were actually serious, for being so concerned as to take the initiative and come here himself. 

_What am I even doing?_ Virgil questioned himself, holding his breath as a couple of castle servants drifted by. Humans failed to look up enough, and so they never spotted him clinging to the ceiling.

This was too easy. Virgil’s paranoid mind screamed at him that his luck would run out. If the other Fae didn’t show up tonight, then surely the staff would eventually find him and kill him. Virgil wouldn’t even blame them really. He was trespassing where he shouldn’t

_But he’s just a boy_, Virgil thought, or that’s what he had heard anyway. The queen had given birth to a son just a handful of summers ago. He couldn’t be that old.

And Fae did love children the best.

Virgil grit his teeth at the thought of the others getting hold of the little prince.

If Virgil were going to die for anyone but himself, this seemed the way to go.

It didn’t take too much effort for him to find Thomas’s room. The boy was inside, already asleep. His tiny form was curled in on itself, making a tiny ball at the corner of the bed.

Virgil tilted his head to the side.

What a small life for everyone to make such a racket about.

The night was quiet so far, and Virgil had no faith in the guards stationed down the hall. If other Fae were coming, then it was up to Virgil to spot when they appeared.

So Virgil resigned himself to hunkering down and waiting the night out.

Wouldn’t it be something if none of them showed up at all? How many nights would Virgil linger here, just to ensure one human child’s safety? A child who, if he so much as took one look at Virgil, would scream his head off in terror.

Not that the kid knew how much Virgil cared. It was his instinct to be scared of something more powerful than him. Virgil would scream too, if it’d been him 

Virgil sighed as the hours drug on. He began to think he overreacted, coming here.

Of course, that’s when it all went to hell.

Only Virgil’s vigilant senses saved them. No enemy really showed themselves exactly. There was nothing to see or hear. Nothing but a mere shift in the atmosphere, the feeling of a fuse burning out, and Virgil was snatching Thomas out of the bed. He flung the door open just as the whole room exploded.

Cradling Thomas protectively in his arms, Virgil launched out of the bedroom and into the hallway, zooming out of the smoke. Thomas coughed and wheezed and yelped in fright. He struggled in Virgil’s iron grip.

Virgil didn’t let the boy catch his breath, nor did he pause to explain himself or what just happened. He raced down the grand corridors, ignoring the way the child pushed against his chest. 

Thomas must have realized that Virgil was a Fae. He had to have. Virgil hadn’t bothered to hide his features, and the slightly glowing multi-colored eyes were a dead give-away. A scarce percentage of humans could wield magic, but Thomas stared up at Virgil with startled eyes that knew him for what he was.

But that was only from Virgil’s perspective.

After a time, the hummingbird heartbeat slowed to something more manageable.

The walls blurred past as they raced down the halls and ducked into rooms.

The squirming ceased, not that Virgil noticed. He kind of had bigger things to worry about than the child who had become oddly quiet in his arms. Like keeping them both _alive_.

Admittedly, Virgil didn’t really have a plan. Mostly he just focused on keeping Thomas away from Remus and Deceit. That explosion—that had to have been Remus. He adored the flashy, destructive approach. Both him and Deceit were here. Others too, maybe. The other Fae had finally arrived and Virgil was toting around a giant target.

As castle guards ran around in a flurry after hearing the explosion, Virgil avoided them by jumping around them. The humans weren’t prepared for his speed, and their reaction time cost them. They only saw a determined blur dart over and through their formations.

Virgil thought Thomas would start hollering again once he saw other humans, but for some strange reason he just kept staring up at Virgil. Even when the guards realized at some point that a Fae had hold of their prince and everyone promptly freaked out, Thomas didn’t.

After dodging another unit of guards, Virgil sped down the halls until he came to a quiet area. He found some sitting area with large windows overlooking the gardens. Virgil honestly had no clue where he was in the castle. Should he just jump out the window or would that leave them vulnerable?

Virgil looked down at the tiny life he held in his arms. He’d never been this close to a human before, let alone a child. Did all their children have such big brown eyes?

He swallowed and told the kid, “I’m going to keep you safe, okay?”

Thomas nodded, probably too scared to react more than that.

Virgil tightened his hold. While his statement hadn’t been a lie, he prayed it wouldn’t turn into one.

“Is there . . .” Virgil began but stopped, trying to figure out the best course of action. “Is there someone here who knows magic? Someone who could help keep you safe?”

Thomas opened his mouth a little, hesitating. Virgil nodded encouragingly, hoping to convey through eyes alone that there would be no consequence for speaking.

“There’s Logan,” Thomas answered softly. “He’s a wizard.”

“Okay. Alright, uh, where is he at?”

“I . . . I don’t know,” Thomas’s voice faded into silence. He looked deeply troubled, small fingers gripping into Virgil’s cloak.

“Hey—hey, it’s ok—” Virgil choked in his attempt to tell Thomas it was okay. Nothing about this situation was okay. “You don’t have to know. We can still find him, somehow . . .”

Thomas nodded again, but doubt lingered there. Virgil had no idea how to comfort him. He’d be better off looking for Logan the wizard. Maybe he could track a guard down and intimidate him into telling Virgil where Logan was? Wait, that’d probably scare Thomas too much. This really was a mess.

Virgil turned away from the windows, ready to wing it and head off. Staying in one place for too long made him antsy. And for good reason too. He could already hear a hurried set of footsteps coming down the hall.

Virgil cursed under his breath and hid in the corner of the room. He thickened the shadows around them for extra security. In a whisper he told Thomas to keep quiet, praying that the child would actually listen to him.

Not long after, the footsteps came by them.

And they stopped.

They couldn’t see their hiding spot. There was no way. Virgil could see the man though and recognized them for a human. He wore shaded spectacles despite it being the middle of the night and indoors. The rest of his attire was casual, although disheveled, like he’d thrown them on in a hurry. He cocked his head to the side as if to listen.

The man’s head turned and Virgil swore his gaze must have been directed right at him.

“You might think you’re slick hiding in the dark, but that doesn’t really work on me, hun.”

Virgil stayed silent, hoping if he remained still long enough, the human would reveal that they were just bluffing and would move along.

And since luck had never been on Virgil’s side, the human wasn’t bluffing.

“I don’t know who you are, but if you think you can kidnap a prince in his own castle and get away with it, you better think again.”

“Remy?” Thomas called out, squinting through the darkness.

Virgil didn’t know why he bothered trying to save a kid who was going to out them like this.

“Hey cous, might want to cool it with the names. That’s a Fae holding you there.”

“Oh, sorry,” Thomas apologized, which was kinda absurdly adorable enough to make Virgil want to snort. Thomas looked up at Virgil and patted at his shoulder. “It’s okay, that’s my cousin. You can’t play hide and seek with him. He’s got magic eyes.”

“Magic eyes?” Virgil repeated. With all pretense of secrecy gone, he lowered the shadows around them. Remy the cousin stood before him, hands on hips. The stance was made to exude confidence, but Virgil could see the slight tremble to his shoulders.

Remy smirked. “I’ve actually met one of your kind before. Just the once.”

He raised his shades. Where eyeballs should be, there was only darkness.

“Wasn’t a very fun experience, I gotta say.”

Virgil shuddered. He could imagine what must have been done to the man.

“It’s all good though,” Remy said, replacing the shades on his nose. “Little bit of magic helps me feel out my surroundings. I’ve had a lot of time to get good at it.”

All Virgil could hear was Remy’s underlying threat, that Virgil couldn’t hide from him anywhere.

It was an incredibly bold thing to say to a Fae. Remy was lucky that it was Virgil he was standing up to.

“I have no interest in fighting you,” Virgil said. He wanted to make that clear from the start before things got more out of hand. He didn’t have much hope at being believed, but it was worth a shot. If he could somehow get Remy the cousin to show them where the wizard was, that’d be great.

Or maybe, if Remy was a wizard himself, he would know protection spells? He was obviously inclined to magic.

“Then _who _do you have an interest in fighting then?” Remy asked, intentionally specific.

“No one.”

Remy raised a brow. “So just run in and snatch the prince and run out? Gotta say, that’s like, not stylish at all. Especially since I heard a big bang was set off towards Thomas’s room. Now why would you go and make all that music if you wanted to skip out on the dancing?”

“That wasn’t me,” Virgil tried his best not to growl out. They were wasting time.

Remy froze. Virgil could hear his breath catch and his heart rate quicken.

“So . . . there’s more of you around then?”

“Yeah,” Virgil admitted, because there wasn’t any reason not to. In fact, it’d be better if the humans knew what they were dealing with. “I don’t know how many, but there’s a couple at least.”

Remy struggled to keep his cocky grin in place. The severity of what they were in the middle of was not lost on him.

“And why are you all here?” Remy asked. Virgil considered if Remy actually cared for his answers or not. If anything, he was buying time for more humans to show up. If Remy was a wizard of note, then he would have already attacked Virgil. Unless he feared for his cousin’s safety, that is . . .

“They want to kill the prince.”

“And what, you don’t?”

“No, I don’t. Believe me or don’t, but that’s my answer.”

“He saved me!” Thomas piped up.

Both of them turned to stare at the boy, both of them shocked for different reasons.

“Excuse me?” Remy asked.

“I was sleeping! And then the room went _BOOM_! But Mr.—uh…what’s your name?”

Remy looked absolutely horrified. Virgil must be crazy, because despite the fact that he was putting his life on the line at this very moment, he couldn’t help but let his lips twitch up into a smirk. This kid was something else.

“You can call me Virge,” he told him.

Thomas continued on with his story as if he hadn’t just asked a Fae outright for their name. “Yeah, Mr. Virge carried me out! I don’t think he’s a bad guy.”

Remy sputtered, “Honey, he’s _literally_ a _Fae_. I _know_ we’ve gone over this before!”

Thomas poked his lip out in a pout. “Yeah, but I don’t think he’s a bad one.” He looked up at Virgil, and Virgil’s breath caught at the trust in those wide eyes. “Not all people are good. That means not all Fae have to be bad.”

Virgil felt a stirring in his chest. He whipped his head up to Remy, alarmed. “Is—are all human children this trusting?”

“He’s a nice kid, okay?” Remy said the word ‘nice’ like it pained him.

Virgil looked back to Thomas. “You’re too good for this world. Here, go to your cousin.” Virgil sat him down on his feet. Thomas frowned in confusion. “I’m not here to keep you. I just want to get you to safety.”

Remy stood there stiffly, hesitating, but he snapped out of it quickly and offered his hand out. “Come over here, cous. C’mon.”

Thomas spared an uncertain glance towards Virgil before hurrying over to his cousin. His bare feet pattered on the stone floor, and Remy was swift to swoop him up in his arms.

“What, no tricks?” Remy asked.

Virgil shook his head. “The kid mentioned there was a wizard here? If you know where to find him, I can escort you there.”

Remy let out a stunned laugh. “You’re actually serious?”

“Well, I can’t lie you know.”

Remy bit his lip in contemplation. Thomas patted at his shoulder as if to reassure him.

Just then, the clinking of armor sounded, prefacing the arrival of one of the castle guards. Virgil cursed. How could he have gotten so distracted to let someone else get so close? Too soon, the guard rounded the corner, sword already drawn.

“Your Royal Highness!” the guard huffed out.

“Patton!” Thomas cheered, his arms already outstretched towards him. With that kind of reaction and Thomas knowing the guard’s name, he must have been somewhat close to the royal family.

“Cous, what did I _just _say—” Remy seethed but then cut himself off abruptly, mouth hanging open. He stared at Patton as if just processing that another human had arrived. Either Remy must have feared for the guard’s safety, or he was relieved for some backup.

The guard brandished his sword towards Virgil, stepping forward, “Take the prince and run! I’ll hold this monster off!”

Virgil raised his hands. “Listen, I’m not here to hurt him, I swear.”

“Patton! He’s good, I promise—” Thomas called out. He was cut off by Remy clamping a hand over his mouth.

Remy took a large step back from the guard. “That’s not Patton.”

Patton looked over at Remy, surprised and a bit hurt. “What are you talking about? Of course I’m me!”

“I can see what you really are,” Remy said, inching away from the perceived threat. “And you’re _not_ Patton.”

Patton looked at them pleadingly. While Thomas glanced between them in hushed confusion, Remy wouldn’t budge an inch, jaw set tight as he stared Patton down. Remy seemed so sure of himself, just like when he knew without a doubt where Virgil was hiding.

If this wasn’t the Patton they knew, then that must mean—

“Deceit!” Virgil announced, pointing at him.

Patton’s expression dropped into a slight scowl. His left eye burned gold.

“What gave me away?” he asked. The face still resembled Patton’s but the voice deepened now, too smooth and with a faint hiss.

“I don’t see with my eyes,” Remy answered. He clutched Thomas tighter to himself, body tensing in preparation to make a run for it.

They could never outrun a Fae, not unless Remy had some trick up his sleeve.

Patton’s face slipped into a sly smile. “Pity you saw through my charade so soon. We could have done this the easy way. Guess you’ll all just have to die then.”

Virgil lunged before his opponent could. As he closed in, the face melted away to show the scales underneath.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: violence, blood, mild gore, minor character death

“What’s the matter, Virge? It’s not like you to be so motivated,” Deceit teased. He read the other’s moves and dodged them easily before they could land. Virgil’s fist breezed right by that smug face as Deceit merely tilted his head to the side.

A gloved hand jabbed up into his abdomen, and while Virgil reared back at the last second, the blow still managed to push out all the air in his lungs. He choked on spit and was forced to retreat.

“Shut . . . up!” Virgil snarled, voice grating as he tried to recover his breath. He staggered against an armchair. Behind him, he could sense Remy and Thomas. If Virgil died here, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

“I’m _honestly_ curious,” Deceit said. He leisurely paced in a wide circle, enjoying the scent of fear from his prey. “What could make the little scaredy-cat crawl out of his hidey-hole? You’ve always been so quiet—”

Virgil willed a shadow to shoot out from the ground. It formed a spike that would have impaled Deceit’s head; however, his head split into two, the two halves morphing into serpent heads.

“Do you want to be the one to claim the child’s life? Is that it?” the heads hissed in unison, red eyes boring into him.

Virgil watched the tongues flicker out, watched the jaws unhinge in preparation. He shook his head furiously in an attempt to rid his sight of the illusion. Deceit had a knack for getting into people’s heads.

“I’m not like you,” Virgil seethed.

“No, you’re not,” Deceit cooed in delight.

The body before him disappeared into smoke as something barreled into Virgil’s side, knocking him onto the floor. The two of them rolled, clawing and jabbing at each other until Deceit came out on top. He hovered above Virgil, one eye dark while the other shone bright.

Virgil struggled to move his hands, but snakes had emerged from the floor, effectively pinning his wrists. The room began to shift in ways that it shouldn’t. The walls pulsed—beating hearts bleeding—faces with mouths drawn open in silent screams. Virgil couldn’t tell what was real anymore.

“Did you really think you could take me on?” Deceit said, anger boiling up to the surface at the offense Virgil had caused. His voice echoed and pounded against his eardrums.

Virgil let out a shriek as the snakes around his hands bit down. Searing agony—his blood boiling in his veins—his hands ripped apart to the bone.

He choked on another scream. Virgil’s body felt too heavy to fight back. Death gripped at his neck, keeping him from begging the others to make a run for it no matter how useless it would be.

“You’re _weak_,” Deceit hissed, baring his fangs.

“Hey Snake-Face!”

Deceit looked up—

A flare of glaring light blasted him square in the face. The scaled skin sizzled. With a cry of outrage, Deceit flung himself away from Virgil and pawed at his face.

Instantly, the room around them returned to normal. Virgil found he could move again. He snatched his hands to his chest, scanning them over. No blood, no puncture wounds. All an illusion.

Remy stood above him and lowered his hand from where he’d had it raised. The light in his fingertips faded out.

“We gotta go now!” Remy warned, yanking Virgil up to his feet. Deceit was blinded for now, but it wouldn’t be for long.

They fled the room. Virgil scooped up Thomas from where Remy had left him. He didn’t trust Remy to keep up with him while being weighed down. Remy didn’t stop to protest, racing forward and leading the way. If Remy still didn’t trust Virgil, he at least thought he was the lesser evil compared to Deceit.

“Where are we going?” Virgil demanded. They rounded a bunch of corners, crossing through a maze of rooms. Virgil was dizzy trying to map out their course in his mind.

“Throne room!” Remy answered shortly.

“I hope you have a plan, because there’s more where he came from.”

“I always have a plan,” Remy said with a smirk. “It’s called ‘winging it’.”

Virgil shook his head.

He was beginning to like this guy.

But damn if it wouldn’t have been nice to have someone with an actual plan. Virgil never had reason to show his strength much, and he could probably take on a lot of Fae in one-on-one matches (albeit, Deceit had always been a tricky bastard). If they didn’t find help fast, Virgil wasn’t sure how long they could last.

Remus was probably picking off the guards that first showed up to Thomas’s room. The wild Fae could easily be distracted like that. It was no surprise that Virgil had ran into Deceit next. Deceit, ever the task-oriented one. The two of them usually worked together well with Deceit pulling the strings. They didn’t typically work with others, but Virgil wouldn’t put it past Deceit to have brought some ‘friends’ tonight.

Virgil held Thomas closer and kept pace with Remy. This would be a long night.

* * *

They grew closer to the central area of the castle. Virgil could sense groups of humans nearby and had to restrain the instinctive urge to turn tail and run. He had to trust that this was his only viable option and hope that Remy wouldn’t immediately throw him to the wolves.

The throne room lay up ahead. A cluster of guards stood outside the open doors and were surprised when Remy came hurtling towards them.

“Make way, hot noble coming through!” Remy bellowed.

Recognizing the royal family member, the guards jumped out of the way and could only blink as a dark figure rushed in behind Remy.

Inside, more groups of humans stood around. No—not standing around. They were organizing. All of the castle’s servants were huddled up nearby, most of them in varying states of dress, probably having been rudely awakened by the explosion when Remus hit Thomas’s bed chambers.

Many more guards were moving about, some rushing in to report back, others moving out. They had already received word about the missing prince and had rightly assumed that the Fae were to blame. Room by room they searched the castle and the surrounding grounds for threats and the missing prince.

An air of authority surrounded one figure who many of the guards rushed in to talk to. A tall man wearing black and navy robes. Logan, the wizard.

“Lo!” Remy immediately called out to him once he spotted the man. Logan and half the room turned to look at him.

Logan quickly set aside a piece of parchment he’d been writing on and rushed to meet him.

“Thank goodness! We sent for you, but had assumed you’d gone missing as well when you weren’t to be found.”

Remy scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, sorry about that. I heard the big booms and thought I’d skedaddle. But theeen I ended up getting lost, so . . .”

“Remy.”

“What? It’s a big castle, it’s not my fault.”

At that time, a scream rang out.

“A Fae! A Fae!” one of the maids in a nightgown shrieked, pointing in terror.

Virgil stiffened, hunching over Thomas protectively while his eyes darted around for trouble.

More screams and hollers went up around Virgil.

Oh . . .

They meant Virgil, didn’t they?

Logan shoved Remy behind himself despite the squawk it elicited from the man.

Everyone that didn’t already have a weapon out drew their swords against Virgil.

Virgil was beginning to feel like he wasn’t welcome.

One of the guards moved a little too close to Virgil and he hissed at him. The guard scrambled back and the whole room held its breath, expecting Virgil to pounce.

Virgil wouldn’t give them what they wanted.

After a moment, the wizard spoke.

“Your mistake, coming here,” Logan said. His eyes ignited in a neon blue. “Unhand the prince and I’ll make your demise painless.”

“You’ve got the wrong idea,” Virgil said, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu. Somehow he doubted it would do any good this time. Crowds were much harder to convince. He was just another monster to these people.

Still, he couldn’t just let go of Thomas—

“Don’t be mad!” Thomas cried out.

Virgil stared down at him, stunned. The boy was . . . defending him? Again? To all these humans?

“Your Royal Highness, I know you’re scared—” Logan started.

“He’s not a bad guy!” Thomas yelled. “He saved me! My room exploded, but he got me out!”

“I think you must be mistaken, sir,” Logan said, trying to be gentle but unable to lose the serious edge in his voice at the sight of the prince being held by the enemy. “A group of Fae have infiltrated the castle, presumably to hurt you like they did your parents.”

“If that’s true, why’d he follow me here?” Remy asked. He shouldered his way around Logan, ignoring the way he tried to pull him back. “I didn’t think it was true at first, but we ran into a Fae in the East wing. Bastard was trying to pretend to be Patton. I called him out and he didn’t like that very much, so tall, dark, and dangerous over here fought him off.”

Logan glanced between Remy and Virgil. The amount of hard skepticism on his face didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

“Infighting happens all the time,” he explained it away. “It’s easy to theorize that each of them wants to be the one to end the royal bloodline.”

“Then why’d he follow me here?” Remy asked again. He gave a wide gesture at Virgil. “I stunned the other Fae, and this one here coulda hauled ass with Thomas. But I told him to follow me and he did. I don’t know why he’s protecting my cous, but I think he realizes that the only people that will help him do that are us humans.”

“And why would a Fae protect a human?” Logan demanded, now looking at Virgil. Virgil was getting tired of the high and mighty way he glared at him.

Virgil scoffed at him. “As if anything I say will matter.”

“On the contrary, what you say could matter greatly,” Logan corrects. “Seeing as how your kind can’t lie. The trouble is getting you to be straightforward. You Fae do so love riddles and misdirection.”

Virgil leveled a glare at him. “I’m not here to hurt Thomas. I’m not with the other Fae. But even telling you that won’t rid you of your suspicion, now will it?”

“Quite right,” Logan agreed. “It leaves a lot of questions to be asked. Most importantly, what you _are _here for if not to hurt Thomas.”

Virgil opened his mouth to respond but just as quickly shut it. His ears tickled with sounds that the humans couldn’t hear. He snapped his head up.

Attached to the ceiling like some kind of spider was another Fae, one Virgil recognized.

“Oh. Guess you caught me,” Emile smiled big and wide, but still Virgil was the only one who knew he was there.

“Look out!” Virgil shouted to the unsuspecting humans. They began muttering to each other, figuring it was a trap, but some inevitably did glance up to see the sight of Emile throwing himself from the ceiling and descending upon them.

“DUN! DA DA DUN DUN DA DA DUUUN!” Emile bellowed, materializing a giant double-sided axe as he fell. He brought the blade right down on Virgil’s head.

Virgil barely had time to throw up a wall of shadow to block him and leap backwards. He couldn’t even throw out a counterstrike, what with Thomas in his arms. He had to stay on the defensive and evade.

All the humans fell over themselves trying to get back. Kinda a smart move when an axe-wielding Fae suddenly falls from the ceiling. Emile stood in the midst of them, looking like he hadn’t just tried to strike Virgil down. His eyes were closed and a happy smile shown on his face.

“Virge! What the heck are ya doin’ here?” Emile asked good-naturedly. “What a coincidence, huh?”

Virgil backed up a step, moving closer to where Remy and Logan stood.

“Friend of yours?” he heard Logan ask and just _knew _that he was addressing Virgil.

“Not even close,” Virgil said, teeth clenched.

Emile opened his eyes, one light blue, the other electric pink, both staring at him in faux shock. “Now Virge! It’s not nice to spread lies!”

“Good thing I can’t then,” Virgil responded. Over his shoulder, he hissed. “I hope those robes aren’t just for show. He might act nice, but he’s ruthless.”

Emile blinked around himself as if just noticing the crowd of people. “Oh, howdy folks! You can call me Emile! I’m here to help!”

“Help what exactly,” Virgil asked scathingly, knowing that the other shoe was about to drop.

Emile’s eyes narrowed and his smile turned absolutely vicious. “Why, help you all to reach your full potential as blood spatters!”

An antsy guard shot forward, followed by another. They raised their swords, rushing in.

Faster than most could see, Emile ducked the first swing and swiped his axe to the side, effectively disemboweling the first man. The second one redirected her swing. She twirled around her dying comrade and made to slash at Emile’s back.

A spear shot out of Emile’s back, skewering right through her. She choked out blood, dropping the sword to hold the rod of the weapon.

“Oopsie daisy, did I do that?” Emile chuckled.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. Screams pierced through the air. Thomas had ducked his crying face into Virgil’s cloaked shoulder. Behind him, he could hear either Remy or Logan speaking out the name of some deity in horror. Even Virgil found it hard to watch and stomach.

The spear snapped back into Emile’s body and the guard fell to the floor, shivering and whimpering in agony. Emile stood up straight, his clothes smattered with red.

“Okay, who’s next?” Emile asked politely.

A cackle rang out from somewhere outside the throne room. Emile turned towards the doors curiously. Guards ran in, most of them bloody.

“Heeey, that wasn’t me!” Emile pointed at them, defending himself as if they’d accused him yet delighted at the new arrivals. It was like they were running away from someone . . .

A dark figure bounced into the room happily, still cackling away. Of course, it was Remus. In one hand he held his Morningstar, and the other he lifted up a limp body by the back of their collar to show to the room.

“Looky who I got!” Remus announced proudly.

Roman, army general. Proven war hero.

Bloodied, bruised, and barely conscious.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: violence, blood, character death

“Looky who I got!” Remus announced proudly.

Roman, army general. Proven war hero. 

Bloodied, bruised, and barely conscious.

“Oooh, nice!” Emile gave a thumbs up. “Look who I found!” He waved over at Virgil to show Remus. Remus lit up, bright as a forest fire

“Virge! I’ve been looking for you.” Remus grinned, sinister. His mismatched green and silver eyes noticed Thomas held protectively in his arms. 

Virgil could feel the burning contempt through the air. Remus wasn’t happy about Virgil foiling his plans.

Behind him, another person appeared in the doorway. He was obviously human and wearing the castle guard uniform, though it was covered in rubble and blood, like he’d been rolling around the remains of Thomas’s bedchambers.

“Don’t you _dare_ touch him!” the guard screamed out in a voice that felt far more suited for laughter. The vengeful glint in his eyes didn’t belong there in such a warm face, but there was no denying that this was really Patton this time.

“Who, this twerp?” Remus laughed, holding up Roman again for display. Remus brought his Morningstar around to smack into Roman’s torso like it was a drum. Roman let out a sharp, pained noise and gagged.

“LET HIM GO!” Patton roared and charged in, his sword raised.

“Temper, temper!” Remus shouted in glee. He dodged the swing and leaned back almost all the way to the floor, like his body didn’t have bones in them. Somehow, he managed to hold onto Roman and his weapon without toppling over.

Patton readied another swing but Remus struck out with his foot. His boot planted right into Patton’s ankle, bringing him down to one knee. As he fell, Remus knocked the sword out of his hand.

“You humans, always rushing in to die,” Remus said as he swung his Morningstar sideways, presumably to decapitate Patton’s head off.

The head of the Morningstar bashed into Patton’s cheek. Although his head turned from the force of the blow, it remained intact. The sharp points of the weapon barely pierced his skin.

An outline of orange light enveloped Patton’s body.

“When I said ‘let him go’, I wasn’t asking,” Patton said and sprang up, driving his fist into Remus’s abdomen with all the force of a battering ram.

Remus coughed out spittle, choking on his own lack of breath. He immediately lost hold of the army general and went flying through the air. He hit the far wall, sliding down. The humans around him ran away, though some bravely stood their ground, weapons ready.

Patton used the opportunity to check on his wounded friend and drag him to safety. Emile glanced repeatedly from Patton to somewhere past Virgil. “Oh! I see! That’s cheating!”

“All is fair in a fight for your life,” Logan said. His hand had been raised, an orange glow dancing around his fingertips.

Whatever the wizard was doing, it had saved Patton’s life. 

Emile didn’t like that.

“I guess that would make you the legs? So supportive!” Emile complimented. He whipped his axe around to sit the handle against his shoulder. He leaned forward. “Cut the legs, and the rest of the body comes tumbling down.”

Emile moved in a dead sprint, far faster than a human. He jumped at the wizard, arms thrown back to ready a devastating swing. Logan would react too slow.

One of Virgil’s shadows snaked out and caught Emile by the ankle mid-leap. With a grit of his teeth, Virgil forced the shadow to whip him away, hurtling him into the hard ground. Emile bounced off from the force of the blow. Before he could fall back, Patton was already there, sword pointed down directly over him to pin him.

Out of Emile’s arm a shield sprang out. The tip of the blade dented off. Off-balance, Patton threatened to fall forward and Emile, taking the opportunity, kicked his leg up to ensure he did fall. His foot met Patton’s sternum harshly and Patton grunted as he was kicked away.

Behind Virgil, a roar bellowed out like a warning. Their other enemy barreled towards them like a raging bull. Virgil tried to react with his shadows in time, but it was too sudden, too fast even for him. Remus nimbly dodged out of the way and hurtled the Morningstar at his head.

This time too he found himself thwarted. An orange light shown in front of where Virgil stood, just like with Patton; however, this was a literal wall of transparent light. Virgil could see Remus through the barrier, see his snarling face when the Morningstar bounced against the wall harmlessly. Enraged, Remus spun around to go after Logan, but the same thing occurred.

“Just let me hit you once! Just once!” Remus screamed, battering at the wall again and again. “I promise I’ll kill you!”

The barrier began to crack. Keeping his calm, Logan breathed out a slow breath in concentration, the blues of his eyes crackling as he shifted spells. His outstretched hands switched from orange to green. In an instant the orange barriers dissolved only to be replaced by wood and vines breaking through the stone floor, shooting up right below Remus at a terrifying speed.

Up and up Remus went shouting all the way. The—tree? It pulsed with life, the plants covering Remus more each time he cut and cursed.

“Stop!” one of the guards shouted out and yet again Virgil had to switch direction. Remy had run out to where Patton laid on the ground clutching his sword for dear life while Emile pushed down heavily with his axe. The boost in strength Logan’s spell had given him earlier was gone now, and it was sheer desperation and adrenaline keeping the Fae’s superior strength from outright butchering him.

Remy threw up his hands and shot a light into Emile’s face, exactly like he’d done with Deceit. Emile screeched inhumanly and jumped back, scratching wildly at his eyes.

“Don’t underestimate a one-hit-wonder, bitch!” Remy snarked.

The only thing that saved Remy from Emile’s flailing counter attack were the guards who rushed in to thwart him. They pushed the Fae back, keeping him on the backfoot while he frantically tried to clear his vision.

“Is that the only spell you know?” Virgil asked, coming to stand by him.

“Pretty much!” Remy laughed. Like actually laughed in this life and death situation.

“Thanks Remy,” Patton thanked as he struggled to his feet. His breaths came in heavy pants, but he remained standing, steady and strong. “You should really get back though. It’s dangerous.”

Remy scoffed and went to retort, but Virgil shoved Thomas into his arms.

“Excuse me, what?” Remy demanded.

“I can’t fight if I’m worrying about him,” Virgil explained. “Stay back and fire off one of those light spells if they get past us.”

Remy glanced down at Thomas once and then shrugged. “Don’t have to tell me twice, babe.”

Virgil stood alongside Patton, watching the guards circle around Emile. They kept a careful distance from Emile’s crazed swinging.

“Can the wizard handle the other one by himself?” Virgil asked.

Although they had just met, Patton didn’t question where Virgil’s loyalty lied. Instead he glanced behind them where Remus still struggled at the top of the mass of plants. Logan stood at the base, an unshakable pillar.

“He’s good, so it should hold him for a minute,” Patton said, turning back to their own fight.

“Great, a time limit,” Virgil grimaced. “You good to go?”

Patton squeezed the grip of his sword. “Doesn’t matter. I have to be.”

Just then, one of the guards was thrown through the air. Emile seemed to have mostly recovered and the guards warily backed up.

Patton charged. He raced between his comrades, and Emile spread his arms wide as if welcoming him home, a mad grin on his face. Virgil could practically see Patton skewered the same way the other guard had been. He shadowed after Patton, ready to pull him back.

But Patton had sensed the trap. He feinted a direct attack and then rolled to the left, transitioning into a tumble past Emile. The spear that shot out of his chest had no one to stab, and Emile blinked in shock. With the distraction provided, Virgil jumped up to land on the end of the spear before diving forward with a sweeping kick.

From behind, Patton slashed at his back. Emile cried out and swung his axe again. The two moved out of the way before they could be sliced up. Together they flanked Emile.

“You’ve been bad, Virge!” Emile snarled. “Bad, bad, bad!”

He swung at Virgil. Virgil hopped back. Another swing and Virgil darted out quick to swipe at Emile’s arm, racking claws against the exposed skin. Emile hissed, the sound mimicking a thousand angry cicadas. He bared fangs when Patton attacked his back, yet his sword met another set of blades that slid out of Emile’s shoulder blades.

“BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD!” Emile screeched. He threw his axe in a wide circle, twirling around. Patton barely managed to put his sword up in time for the axe to knock him away.

Virgil dove in again. He punched Emile in the jaw, and his other hand would have come up to blind his eyes with sharp nails had Patton not pulled Virgil back at the last second. Lucky he did because a bunch of blades emerged from Emile’s arm. They fell back to catch their breaths.

Emile wouldn’t give them a reprieve. He shot forward and, rather than hit Virgil with his axe like expected, Emile rammed into Virgil with his shoulder. Virgil lost his footing and fell to the ground.

Virgil grabbed at his chest, hands coming away wet.

Oh. Emile must have sharpened his shoulders. Made sense.

Emile stalked towards Patton. Virgil could hear the sound of metal banging against metal. He coughed and cringed at the bitter taste of blood in his mouth.

Damn, how deep had he been cut? By how many blades? It didn’t matter. He had to get up. However skilled Patton had proven himself to be, he didn’t stand a chance by himself against a Fae.

Virgil rose to his feet, blood pouring from his chest to spill against the floor. He ignored it and staggered forward. His eyes blazed and his vision tunneled as his shadows lurched out to wrap around Emile’s raised axe. Virgil held it in place, a master with an unwieldy puppet.

Emile pulled fiercely at the bindings trapping his favorite weapon. He glared venomously over his shoulder at Virgil. He could have broken free easily, given a chance to wait out Virgil’s waning consciousness.

But Patton was still there, and he didn’t hesitate. He thrusted the sword up into Emile’s throat. Virgil watched from behind, the way the blade yanked out to the side, nearly severing his neck completely.

Virgil let his shadows fade. Emile’s body fell.

The guards around them cheered in victory, and as Virgil’s legs gave out, he wondered if they would cheer the same way when they killed him.

Guess he’d find out if he woke up.


	5. Chapter 5

Virgil opened his eyes to find that he was very much alive.

He didn’t know whether to be happy about this fact.

He had awoken on a cot, bare chested save for the bandages. A burning pain itched at his skin and he resisted the urge to scratch it. The cot was placed in the center of the room, the room being some sort of large study. It was a circular room with a high ceiling, bookshelves and ladders spread up and up the walls. Virgil could sense some to be imbued with magic, and while that was intriguing, there were more important things to worry about. Like the fact Virgil wasn’t alone here.

“Good evening,” Logan greeted crisply. He closed the book he’d been reading and sat it aside on a table. His chair was a safe distance away from Virgil’s resting place.

Virgil stiffened, waiting for a blow that would never come. If Logan’s plan was to kill him, he’d already be dead. So what was this about?

He leaned up a bit and forced his features not to twist at the ache it elicited in his wounds. The floor around the bed had been drawn on. The lines formed some sort of circle with intricate detailing. The markings emitted the faintest of glows.

“What’s the spell for?” Virgil asked, already knowing where this was going and not liking it one bit.

“To keep you restrained safely,” Logan answered. “I wouldn’t advise moving too far from the bed.”

Virgil didn’t have any plans to move for the moment. His morbid curiosity had its limits, and he was far too tired to test it.

His head thumped back against the pillow. They might as well have used iron chains on him.

“So I’m your prisoner now,” Virgil surmised.

Logan adjusted his glasses. “That would be a . . . fair assessment, although I am not comfortable with the situation either, believe me.”

“Try being the one in here,” Virgil huffed. He scrubbed at his face in weary resignation. At least this beat being dead.

“Apologies. Hopefully this situation is temporary,” Logan said. Virgil didn’t know whether the sentiment was genuine, but he knew he definitely didn’t want to hear what Logan’s ideal alternative would be.

“So what is it you want from me? Information? Maybe use my parts for one of your spells?”

Logan’s nose wrinkled in distaste. “I have no intention to . . . disassemble you. Information would indeed be appreciated; however, this is not the reason you are here, as you might be wondering.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow at him.

Logan shifted uncomfortably in his seat, having a hard time keeping eye contact with a Fae. “I cannot deny that you were . . . instrumental in the preservation of the prince’s life.”

“You mean how I saved Thomas from dying a few times?”

“Yes,” Logan responded with a glower. “You have the gratitude of all of Selbion. Be that as it may, you are still an enemy to our kingdom. I have no inkling of your intentions and I cannot let someone of your capabilities wander free and unsupervised. For now, this is the most practical solution.”

“It’s times like these I wish I could use sarcasm,” Virgil muttered. Oh, how he envied humans and the ease of their speech.

“While I intend to question you, I will save that for later when you are better rested. We tried our best to tend to your wounds but Fae are . . . quite different from humans. Is there anything you require? Or perhaps I can get you something to eat and drink?”

Virgil thought for a moment. It’s not like he could get out of this situation, not in his current state. And he didn’t have the energy to curse at the wizard. He didn’t feel particularly hungry at the moment either.

At length, Virgil asked, “The kid. Thomas . . . He really alright?”

Virgil couldn’t decipher the expression on Logan’s face. The wizard stared at him for a long moment, enough to make Virgil uncomfortable, though he refused to look away.

“The prince doesn’t have a scratch on him,” Logan answered.

Virgil nodded slowly. “And the other Fae? What happened to them?”

It was the next day at least. With Logan sitting here calmly and no other ruckus to be heard, Virgil assumed that the threat had passed and things had settled down.

“You helped in dispatching one of them. The other one, the one dressed in black and green? He fled soon after. There were sightings of other potential Fae around the castle, but after the death of that one, the rest must have disappeared. The castle is on high-alert in case any have hidden or if any attempt to return.”

“Good, that’s good,” Virgil breathed out, closing his eyes. “Just be careful. One of them—the guy goes by ‘Deceit’—he can cast illusions and pretend to be other people.”

“The prince’s cousin has informed me as much. We’ve been wary of everyone who resides or works in the castle. Deceit hasn’t been seen.”

Virgil opened his eyes. He blinked languidly at the ceiling. Instead of a roof, there was a glass dome. It was rather pretty.

“They’ll try again,” Virgil warned him. “Fae don’t like being denied.”

“Then they’ll just have to get used to disappointment.”

Virgil snorted.

* * *

The next time Virgil awoke, it was night.

He blinked his eyes slowly, unhurried when knowing that he’d be awakening to the same fate as when he fell asleep before. All he could do for now was rest, recover his strength, perhaps get more information on the spell Logan used to hold Virgil captive, and then test its limit’s once he’d healed enough. It was either that or attempt to reason with the humans to let him go, but somehow he doubted that would work.

Maybe if he could talk to Remy again. As much as the prince seemed to like Virgil, he was still only a boy and lacked authority. Remy however was his older cousin. Virgil didn’t understand human politics that well, but surely the cousin held some power. If he could be convinced—

The door opened with a faint creak.

Ah, so that’s what had woken Virgil up. He must have heard the footsteps approaching.

Virgil feigned sleep and listened to the door close once more. Footsteps shuffled forward. From the sounds of them, they were too heavy to be someone small. An adult, one with a bad or injured leg. If this was Logan returning to the study, something bad had befallen the castle surely. 

But this presence felt distinctly different from the wizard. Virgil breathed in soft and deep and tasted the hints of magic there. They didn’t feel like a Fae either. Remy maybe? Or a different human Virgil hadn’t encountered. It could have been a disgruntled injured soldier upset at Logan for keeping a Fae within the castle after their comrades had been slaughtered by his kind.

Virgil’s muscles coiled as the footsteps came closer. Should he give up the element of surprise and open his eyes? Would it do any good to see the attack coming if he could barely dodge it?

The footsteps stopped at the circle’s perimeter.

They could be readying a sword or—

“Hey, wake up,” a rich, baritone voice ordered loudly.

Virgil frowned as he opened his eyes. “Your bedside manner could use some work.”

“My apologies, it’s never been in my nature to be nice to monsters,” the man said. “I’m more used to slaying them.”

If Virgil’s already pale skin could go any whiter, it would at seeing who loomed outside of his prison cell.

Roman, Selbion’s most famed warrior; even the Fae were wary of this one.

Despite the man being covered in bruises and bandages himself, he cut an imposing figure with the broadsword he carried casually at his side.


	6. Chapter 6

So this was how Virgil would die.

How cruel, to be allowed to think he’d gotten a sliver of a chance to live. Virgil would laugh if he wasn’t so damn terrified. He was excruciatingly aware of how alone he was here with the general. Logan may not trust him at all, but he had been willing to let him live at least.

But the wizard must have retired for the night. If Virgil sucked up his pride enough to scream for help, Roman would breach the circle and cut him down before the plea left his lips. Virgil could taste the bloodlust in the air.

Unless . . . the wizard had sent this one to do his dirty work?

No, no, it didn’t make sense, not after their earlier conversation. If anything, this spoke of Roman’s own volition and hatred.

“The wizard doesn’t know you’re here,” Virgil stated, and he must have really believed it because it didn’t sound like a question.

“He’s not my keeper,” Roman grinned as if they were having a casual chat. “And he certainly never should have been yours.”

Every hair stood on end. Virgil could already feel the sharpness of the blade at his neck. The animalistic will to live snarled at him to get up, to fight back, to do _something_.

He swallowed and rose up to a sitting position ever so slowly. Although the human’s eyes sharpened and he leaned back slightly, he allowed the movement. Virgil didn’t break eye contact with him the entire time, nor did he show any pain that came with moving his wounded body. As the blanket slipped down past his chest, Roman finally broke away to stare at the bandages.

He whistled. “They said it was nearly a death blow.”

“Nearly, but not quite,” Virgil agreed, voice steely. When Emile had cut into his chest, Virgil couldn’t be sure how close to his heart it had gotten. Even for a Fae, that was cutting things close. As it was, even without the magic circle impeding his movements, he probably couldn’t take on much of anyone.

Roman obviously wasn’t too sure of that. He was smart to keep his distance instead of rushing in, no matter how wasted the caution ended up being. For all that he had been injured yesterday, Roman looked hardly affected. The bandages and bruises didn’t take away from the cut-throat gleam in his eyes.

“Twenty-one.”

Virgil blinked and refocused. “Twenty-one what?”

Though his eyes were ivy green, they burned like fire. “Twenty-one people died last night.”

Oh.

_Oh_.

That many . . .?

Roman grinned again and it was nothing short of vicious. “Twenty-one people. Twenty-one _good_ and _kind_ souls, all of them with lives and dreams and families. Twenty-one of them snuffed out because of your kind.”

It hadn’t been by Virgil’s hand.

But the weight that settled heavily in his chest said it didn’t matter.

Save a few, more still die anyway. Such was the way of the world. So what was the point in trying?

Virgil didn’t even know them. Any of these humans really. Why should it matter?

All he knew was that it _did_.

He could have done more. Fought harder. Was the kid so important to fixate all his energy on?

Thomas’s protests came to mind, the way he defended Virgil. Had _worried _for him.

A fierce wave of protectiveness swelled inside him.

He had many regrets in life, but that child would not be one of them.

“Twenty-one of us, and how many of you?” Roman asked. He waited, but Virgil refused to answer. “Just the one. Takes about twenty of us to get just one of you. Just _one _of you.”

“Did they not tell you that I helped to bring that one down?”

“Did you know that we humans aren’t as easily led as you think?” Roman countered, a snarl marring his handsome features. “I see through your charade, demon. You want to worm your way into the prince’s soft heart? Devour Selbion from the inside out? I won’t let you have your way!”

“That’s _not_ what I want!” Virgil couldn’t help but yell back at him in desperation.

“Your ‘good Fae’ spiel won’t work on me. I know your kind all too well. Do you know how many of my people I’ve seen slaughtered mercilessly? How they’ve danced with the bloodied bodies?”

Virgil shook his head. “Not by me. I’ve never—”

“Do you know how many of your kind I’ve returned the favor to?”

Virgil’s hands trembled where they gripped the rumpled bedsheets. His skin beaded with cold sweat.

Roman glanced at his sword thoughtfully, raising it up. “Not enough.”

“JUST DO IT!” Virgil screamed at him.

He was tired of his hummingbird heartbeat rattling against its cage.

He was tired of always living his life in fear, being treated as beneath the rest because that was better than being considered a threat.

He was tired of loving something so dearly that would never love him back.

And most of all, he was tired of being looked at as a monster after giving everything he ever could to be otherwise.

“Enough of this posturing!” the words wrenched out of Virgil’s throat, making his wounds twinge agonizingly, but he didn’t care anymore. “You’re angry! I get it! But I can’t bring back the dead! And I can’t save the living enough to be worth a damn! Do you really think I wanted this?! I never wanted _any_ of this! It didn’t used to _be _like this! But I can’t go back in time and stop the war from ever happening any more than you can, no matter how much I gladly would! So stop using me as a scapegoat for the sins of an _entire species_, and just shut up and kill me if you’re going to kill me!”

Roman didn’t lower his sword, but he did stare at Virgil with eyes wide open.

In the midst of his heaving breaths, Virgil noticed the wetness dripping down his chin. He faltered and touched his face, surprised when it came away wet with tears.

Oh. He really didn’t want to die, did he?

And yet, that wouldn’t change his own helplessness.

The weight in his chest crushed his lungs and made it hard to breathe. Virgil crumpled in on himself, hunching over and hiding his shame behind his hands.

“Please,” he begged. “Just make it quick . . . I can’t do this anymore . . . I have nowhere else to go anyway. I knew—I knew this would lead to my end. I just—I just couldn’t sit by and do nothing anymore, you know? I . . . it’s stupid, but I just . . . just wanted to be brave for once in my life. But this world . . . it has no place for me. So just end it . . . Kill me.”

He could hear the human shuffle in place.

“Look at me,” Roman demanded.

Virgil shook his head, refusing to remove his hands. He didn’t want to see his death coming.

“Damn it, look at me!” he growled again. “If I’m to kill you, it’ll be while you’re facing me—”

The door slammed open.

“What are you doing?!” a voice rang out.

Virgil flinched and looked up. He registered the voice and could see the guardsman Patton standing at the doorway, panting as if he’d run all this way.

Roman’s eyes rolled skyward, mouth drawn down in a frown at being caught. But his back was towards the door and he didn’t realize that Patton wasn’t talking about him.

The little form of the prince raced inside. He breezed past Roman who startled with a squawk, and Thomas threw himself at Virgil.

“Mr. Virge!” Thomas cried out joyously.

His thin arms did their best to wrap around Virgil, and though his body was small, it carried enough heft to pack a punch when he barreled into Virgil.

Virgil bit harshly at his lip to keep from crying out. He blinked back the tears, too stunned to fully register that the prince had went out of his way to come find him, had wanted to see him again, was _hugging_ him this very moment.

“Thomas?!” Roman flipped out and made to lunge in and grab the prince out of harm’s way, but he froze a second before his foot entered the circle. He stared at Thomas in horror, seeing him in the clutches of a Fae.

“Mr. Virge, they said I couldn’t come see you, but I knew you was hurt, so I wanted to see you,” Thomas explained with hurried words. He leaned back to beam up at Virgil, but his smile slowly died as he took in the pale, tear-streaked face. “Mr. Virge? Does it hurt?”

Virgil broke.

He pulled the precious child close and wept.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: blood, violence

Virgil remembered the first time he ever saw a human.

It’d been a young girl. Not quite a woman yet, but the skin of childhood was quickly shedding. She had a basket hung in the crook of an elbow. Words fell from her lips, voice not quite lilting enough for song. She recited softly to herself as she picked rocks from the river.

It had been by chance Virgil had spotted her. His careful nature made him more prone to the thickest areas of the forest. Today though, he found himself wandering in search of food. The girl must not have heard the stories of the fair folk. That or she didn’t believe in them. It had been a time before war, a time when humans (especially the ones tucked away safely in their bustling cities) were more inclined to liken the Fae to myths.

Virgil glimpsed her through the trees across the river. He should have run as soon as he saw her.

He didn’t.

The girl wasn’t even carrying a weapon. Virgil could sense nothing magical about her. She had no defenses to speak of, and yet she carried on as if she had nothing to fear. Bold in her vulnerability.

And she smiled to herself. She picked rocks out of the river, throwing more back into the water than she placed in her basket.

She had been so lucky that it had been Virgil who had found her. Virgil, who slunk around in the shadows because the light made you easy to find—easy to kill. It wasn’t like Virgil to interact with anyone if he could absolutely help it.

But here he found himself wanting to sit beside her. To ask what brought her out so far. To know what purpose the little stones would serve. To hear the story behind the words she recited.

Virgil remembered that first encounter so clearly, the memory seared into his brain.

He remembered watching the girl eventually leave.

He remembered the day she came back shortly after with another girl who looked too similar to be anything other than her sister.

He remembered the way they trotted down the same river bank, scouring the area for little treasures, laughing and teasing each other.

He remembered never seeing the sisters again, but several more humans would venture into or around the forest.

Virgil remembered growing more daring, spending as much time as he could watching these creatures that looked so similar to himself yet were infinitely different.

He remembered learning to treasure them. He did what he could without being seen, helping them to find what they were looking for, guiding those that were lost.

It made him feel close. Connected. He couldn’t stand alongside them, nor could he ever be them. Them, these humans, so vivid in their warmth and deep in their delights.

Virgil remembered their happiness and wishing it was his own.

Virgil remembered so many things that broke his heart and gave it reason to beat all at once.

But if Virgil was being honest, he couldn’t remember ever being hugged. 

A sad realization to make in the middle of an emotional breakdown, wasn’t it? But screw it, Virgil thought he was seconds away from dying. _Still_ thought that he would die soon. And here this little human had snuck in to show him kindness and concern when no one else had. He made Virgil feel like his life had actually been worth a damn.

And here Virgil was, frightening that very child by the onslaught of his emotional upheaval. He couldn’t understand exactly why Virgil wept, and his sympathetic nature caused him to begin to cry in return.

Despite how distressed Thomas grew, Virgil couldn’t stop.

“I’m sorry,” he told the prince, rocking them back and forth. “I’m so sorry for what the others put you through. I’m sorry—that I couldn’t stop them from taking your parents. I’m sorry I waited until now to do anything. I was scared—I’m sorry. I’m sorry they came here last night. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect everyone. I’m so sorry, little one.”

If anyone in this world deserved better than the lot they had received, it was this kind soul in his arms.

The other humans were arguing with each other. Virgil didn’t care to listen. He just wanted this moment—this one moment for himself.

There was no way out for him. This was it. Each potential escape method was smashed to bits by the looming notion that he had nowhere to go. Back to the forest? No, he’d be hunted by his own kind. Lose himself in Selbion? The humans would hunt him down just the same. And Virgil doubted he could make it beyond their borders, weak as he was now.

He couldn’t even make it beyond the border of the enchanted circle. The only foreseeable way he could manage that in his condition would be to take advantage of Thomas. He had just enough of his name to influence him. Or failing that, try to make a deal with him. But just thinking about attempting to hobble through the castle made Virgil bone-deep tired.

So this was it.

“Unhand him,” Roman’s voice commanded. 

Virgil could feel the sharpness of a blade poised right at his neck. Despite the sword’s length, Roman would have had to step into the circle to reach him. Virgil clenched his eyes closed tighter and held fast to Thomas.

“I said let him go!” Roman yelled and suddenly Thomas was being yanked out of his arms.

“No, _please_—” Virgil begged. The cool air lapped at his chest and accentuated the emptiness of his arms. His hands flew out to catch Thomas, but Roman’s eyes blazed bright and his sword ignited with flame.

Virgil reared back instinctively to avoid being singed. That was all Roman needed to stumble out of the circle. The fire sizzled out, leaving behind hot steel, and Roman sagged considerably where he held Thomas. Sweat glinted on his brow, and his skin paled. The general was not as recovered as he seemed to be.

Two seconds. That’s how long it took for Virgil’s brief respite to be taken away. A devastated wail curled up his throat and he lunged forward, driven by the madness of someone who didn’t have anything left to lose.

As soon as Virgil’s body neared the circle’s perimeter, all the drawn sigils sparked in yellow electricity. The piercing current jolted through Virgil and he choked on a scream. His body fell back, muscles spasming and refusing to work properly.

“You hurt him! _You hurt him_!” Thomas’s shrill voice screeched.

Dazedly, Virgil looked up from his slumped position on the floor to watch Thomas batter little fists into Roman. Roman winced and struggled to hold the prince. He dropped his sword to keep the boy from flailing into it.

“Thom—calm down!” Roman told him. “Patton—”

But Patton stood there off to the side, eyes wide and watching Virgil with an unidentifiable expression. His lips were pressed thin and white while staring at the broken Fae.

“You’re a jerk!” Thomas screeched again. “You hurt him! He’s my friend and you hurt him! Let me go!”

“Patton, help me man!”

Patton couldn’t tear his gaze away from Virgil. Fresh blood seeped into the previously white bandages wrapped around Virgil’s chest. His wound had come open, and Virgil could hardly decipher it amongst all the rest of the pain that wracked his body.

This was so much worse, prolonging the agony. Hearing Thomas’s screams and being able to do nothing about it. Knowing that the child would probably weep for him after he died, despite Virgil not feeling deserving of the honor in the slightest.

His body wouldn’t cooperate. A sinking, grasping sensation dragged at his insides—at his awareness. Maybe he would bleed out at this rate, save the general from having to come over here and kill Virgil himself. His fingers twitched as he tried to touch at his wound, but in the end he laid still.

Roman hollered as Thomas sank his teeth into his forearm. The boy was dropped and wasted no time in scurrying over to Virgil. Just as he made it, a shroud of thundering dark blue clouds condensed by the open doorway. Logan walked out of them dressed in his sleepwear, his glasses slightly askew.

“What is going on here?!” The wizard surveyed the disorder.

“Virge, Mr. Virge!” Thomas called to him. He dropped to his knees beside Virgil, hands shaking at his shoulder. Tears and snot covered his reddened face.

Virgil’s world narrowed down to this one human.

This child who called him friend.

“It’s okay, I’m not gonna let him hurt you again,” the child hiccupped through another bout of tears. “Logan can fix you, and then you can stay and live with me in the castle. Okay? But you have to get better. Get better and you can stay, okay?”

Virgil’s head spun and unconsciousness threatened to take him, but he wouldn’t let Thomas be taken from him a second time. Not after he’d finally found something that made all the misery in his life worth it.

Thomas was offering him a hand. And Virgil would gladly cling to it.

“Promise I can stay with you?” Virgil asked.

“I promise,” Thomas said and scooped Virgil’s hand up to twine their pinkies together.

Virgil closed his eyes. “It’s a deal then.”

Virgil’s awareness slipped away right then, but to everyone else in the room they would forever remember what they witnessed.

Virgil’s body erupted in a sea of shadows. The first wave sprouted out like inky vines, the tendrils circling around Thomas and slamming Roman back who had been just about to reach them. The boy leaned back to watch as the writhing shadows descended on him, covering his skin and encapsulating him entirely. Logan threw out a spell but it had no effect. The Fae had completely turned into shadows, and nothing could stop the shadows from consuming Thomas.

And then, as they watched the pulsing black mass in horror, the shadows bled away. Patches of the prince emerged—locks of his hair, his fingers held up to hold nothing, the curve of his cheek. On and on the shadows were absorbed into Thomas’s body until nothing remained.

Once they were all gone, Thomas went limp.


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite possibly the longest epilogue ever. Please enjoy.

Sharp footsteps clipped down the corridor with purpose. Many of the castle staff made way. Most days the royal would give them the courtesy of a smile or even stop to chat. This wasn’t most days though.

Actually, this had been one hell of a month in general.

Remy stalked past everyone without a glance their way. They shone in his periphery like flares of guiding light in the night. Everything gave off energy, people more than other things. Regular humans were white, each source of light fizzling and crackling in their own unique ways and shapes. Remy could tell each one apart.

It made it hard to look at them and see their ‘faces’, recognize the ones who he’d grown used to seeing here for years, only to then notice the ones who were missing…

Remy made it to his destination. The door to the wizard’s study stood open and voices trickled out. Logan had been more popular than Remy lately, and wasn’t that a crime?

“What’s a guy gotta do to get you alone, babe?” Remy purred.

Logan stood next to his desk, a looming aura of white nearly overshadowed by all the traces of other colors tangled in between. Another person stood with him, threads of rainbows interspersed to a lesser degree. The aura was brighter in a way that said its owner was younger than the wizard beside them.

Oh, no wonder they seemed fairly young; this must be one of Logan’s students.

The student glanced uncertainly at Remy and back at Logan. Logan merely sucked in a breath as if he’d put a lemon in his mouth but was resigned not to spit it out.

“Ignore him. Indulging his flirtations only makes him worse.”

“As if I could ever be ignored.” Remy grinned. “But seriously, got a sec to talk? Or should I come back in a bit?”

Logan sighed. “No, stay. I won’t be here ‘in a bit’ anyway. I can’t avoid the city council any longer. And before that I need to make an appearance at the college. I’ve been neglecting my duties there as of late.”

“No one blames you, sir,” the student piped in. “What with the war and all the fairies.”

“Fairies?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, like the Fae? Or fair folk.”

“It’s new age slang, Teach,” Remy offered. He patted Logan’s shoulder consolingly. “It’s okay, you’re old.”

Logan slapped his hand away in irritation. “My age does not make me unaware of the changing of language. And I am not _old_.” Before Remy could make a sassy retort, Logan went on, “Oh, my apologies, Joan. Forgive me for not introducing you properly but this is Prince Remy. Remy, this is Joan; they’re the president of the senior class of apprentice wizards at the college.”

“Ohh, the president?” Remy whistled. “You must be a big-shot, up-and-coming wizard then.”

“Hardly,” Joan laughed, aura flaring in self-consciousness. “I’m not all that great; there’s a lot I still can’t do.”

“Do not undersell yourself,” Logan advised. “The accomplishments you have yet to make should not be valued more highly than the accomplishments you’ve already made. Although you could use more practice in other areas of magic, that doesn’t take away from the fact that your adeptness in divination and summoning are remarkable.”

“Divination?” Remy asked, surprised. It was one of the harder forms of magic. He would know out of anyone.

“Remy here is actually a master of divination,” Logan supplied. “He is not a master of much else, however.”

“Rude. I mean true, but why’d you have to say it?”

“Really?” Joan asked, his aura burning with excited curiosity. Kinda reminded Remy of Thomas. “How does that work? I thought… Your eyes…”

Remy smirked. “I use divination to see. You don’t really need to ‘see’ auras. You just gotta feel them. Try using a blind fold next time.”

“Kinky,” Joan responded before they could stop themselves. Immediately their aura burst hot with shame, probably at remembering the company present. “I mean—”

Remy burst into laughter. “You’re a keeper, kid!”

As Joan floundered, trying to decide whether to be embarrassed or laugh with him, Logan gently ushered Joan out of the study. “Before we become any more distracted, I’ll ask you to wait outside for me Joan. I need to have a word with Remy before we leave for the college.”

“Oh babe, if you wanted me alone all you had to do was—”

Logan’s aura pulsed bright blue and the next thing Remy knew, a summoned magical bird flew directly at his head. He ducked just in time.

“Feisty,” Remy said after standing back up.

Logan closed the door with a huff. “You’re incorrigible. What do you need?”

“A nice long bath. A steak dinner. Oh, maybe a manicure.”

“Enough stalling, Remy. I really don’t have long to spare.”

Remy debated carrying on just to see how far he could push Logan’s buttons.

It would be a fun distraction from the shit storm happening around them.

“You really gonna leave?” Remy asked. He leaned a hip against Logan’s desk, arms crossed.

Logan hadn’t left the castle in weeks. He’d been too afraid to. And truth be told Remy had been afraid as well. They all had.

“There’s no more avoiding it at this point,” Logan said, although his voice sounded unbelievably tired. “With Thomas’s condition unchanging as of late, and with the castle’s defenses increased, I must take the time while I can to tend to my other responsibilities.”

“Hn, responsibility. Sounds boring.”

“You may act indifferent, but I know you put a great deal into your duties as a member of the royal family.”

“Prove it.” Remy sniffed and turned his head.

Of course, Logan knew he was deflecting. It had been Remy’s idea to present the castle’s security breach to the public as a grave mishandling of magic. Just an accident, that’s all. Logan, straightforward man that he was, loathed political cover-ups. But even he could see the reason behind this particular one.

If their citizens knew that even the most guarded of them weren’t safe in their own castle?

There’d be anarchy.

“Where is Thomas?” Logan asked, steering the conversation down another path. “I thought you were watching him this morning. Is that why you needed me? I assume it’s not an urgent matter, due to your relaxed behavior.”

“He’s with my folks. Don’t worry, Patton’s with them.”

Remy’s parents had been away the night of the breach a couple of weeks ago. When they got back and heard the news, they’d held Remy and their little nephew and voiced how regretful they were that they hadn’t been there for them on that night.

Remy didn’t want to imagine his parents witnessing that horror. Or worse, how they could have been two more notches in the death count.

“No, this isn’t really about Thomas,” Remy went on, plastering a half-grin on his face that he couldn’t feel. “Just wanted to give you a heads up about Roman. He got summoned.”

“What?! When was this? To where? Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

“Happened late last night. He got word from Alaford. Things are looking pretty hairy there apparently…”

Logan knew what that meant. Alaford, once a rich and thriving tourist city, had become a stronghold near Selbion’s borders next to the forests of the Fae. As the Fae had encroached on the kingdom’s territory and picked off the surrounding farming villages, Selbion’s army had stationed itself in Alaford before they could get any further.

Alaford used to be a pretty place. Remy remembered traveling there many times with his parents as a kid. Vendors lined the streets, performers putting on shows, the smell of pumpkin pies they were known for wafting through the air every year during autumn…

Now, soldiers came back from there and spoke of what a nightmare the city had become.

A thoughtful silence filled the room. Both of them worried for their friend. Every time he went back into battle was another time that he might not come back.

“It must have taken a figurative crowbar to pry him away from Thomas,” Logan said, an attempt at levity.

Remy laughed. “Yeah, you shoulda heard him. It was all, ‘How can I fulfill my duty to both the crown and the people when both need me?’ I bonked him on the head though, so you can thank me. Told him he might as well go. He needs a distraction anyway, and Thomas ain’t going anywhere apparently.”

“Indeed. Any updates on Thomas’s condition that I should know about before I leave?”

“You mean other than sprouting another head? Nah, not really.”

Logan’s aura dulled marginally. Remy could tell he wasn’t amused. “I understand that you must be joking and I do not find it funny.”

“I think it’s funny.”

“It’s not, considering the fact that we have no precedence for the situation we find ourselves in and ‘another head sprouting’ very well could become another side effect of his deal.”

And oh boy, what a deal it was. Thomas _would_ be the one to go and completely ignore all common sense and make a deal with a _Fae_.

* * *

The gray-hued tones of everyone’s auras told him before they’d used words.

They were arguing—too distracted—couldn’t get to Thomas in time—how could that Fae still be so powerful even as injured as he’d been?

But their words drifted right through Remy. He couldn’t stop staring at his sleeping baby cousin.

The white had been shrouded in black. Remy had felt this darkness before.

The shadow Fae, Virge—the one who had sworn he’d only been there to help—had nested inside his cousin and was eating him from the inside out.

Or that’s what Remy thought at first. That or the Fae had died in bequeathing the gift of his magic to Thomas. But after Thomas awoke a full twenty-nine hours after he’d slipped into unconsciousness, the white glowed stronger and Thomas told them what had happened.

“I said he could stay,” Thomas murmured sleepily to them. He would be sleepy for the rest of the day before bouncing back to his usual high-energy self.

“I need you to clarify, Thomas,” Logan said, sitting on the bed beside Thomas. The wizard had used every spell to try to identify what Thomas had become, and all they knew was that Thomas reeked of Fae essence. “It seems you have made a deal with that Fae. You understand what I mean, don’t you?”

“I… I think so?”

“You told him he could stay, but did you say anything else? Anything at all? Or did he say something?”

“I…I dunno. I just…said he could stay if he got better. I really wanted him to stay. He helped me. I wanted to help him too.”

“That’s…very kind of you, Thomas,” Logan conceded. “But I’m afraid the Fae is no longer here.”

Thomas was confused. “No, Mr. Virge is here.”

And didn’t that just send a shiver down everyone’s spine.

“He’s sleeping,” Thomas explained as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

When asked _where_ Virge was currently, Thomas couldn’t pinpoint exactly, only that he was definitely in the vicinity and was apparently sleeping in ‘the dark.’

“How do you know this? Did he tell you?”

Thomas laughed. “He can’t talk, he’s sleeping!”

The child showed a concerning lack of concern about it all. It could have been the shock of all the trauma built up. He was only six for god’s sake. First losing his parents and now this?

But Thomas acted more adjusted than any of the anxious adults hovering around him. Thomas talked happily about all the things he’d do with Mr. Virge when the Fae woke up.

“He possessed, Thomas,” Roman said hours later when Thomas had drifted off to sleep again. He couldn’t bear to be too far away from the prince, not after having failed him so terribly. “We all saw it happen. And Remy can see the bastard prowling around inside of him. He’s a nesting parasite, waiting to take him over when he has the strength.”

“We don’t know that that’s what it means,” Patton denied, though his aura didn’t look as confident as his words sounded.

“Then what else could it mean, Patton? That the Fae just hitched a ride inside of him to take a nap? Don’t fool yourself. He took advantage of a child’s naivety, and now he’s ‘staying’ with Thomas. Staying until he completely takes him over or just kills him—_God!_ I should have killed that monster when I had the chance—”

“Shhh, you’ll wake him,” Patton admonished. “We’ll figure this out, I promise. It’s a good sign that Thomas was acting normal earlier, right? Logan will find something out. Until then we’ll just have to be there for Thomas.”

“That’s rich, coming from you.”

“W-what?”

“Be there for Thomas? As I recall you just stood there and stared.”

Roman couldn’t understand the complicated coil of emotions in Patton’s aura, but Remy could see it.

“Shut up,” Remy told them from where he sat at Thomas’s bedside. “Get out or shut up.”

“Remy, you—”

“I said shut up. That’s an order.”

Roman wisely didn’t speak after that, and Patton left the room. Both of their auras curled in on themselves with shame, fear, and grief.

With everything falling apart around them and everyone questioning the right thing to do, they were all hurting and failing to see past their own failures.

Remy stayed awake that night staring at the shifting mass of white and black. He sensed the jagged edges of Roman’s aura from across the room, and though the man did not make a sound, he knew the general cried.

They all took shifts with Thomas over the weeks to come. Though to be honest, they stayed with him whenever they possibly could. Roman and Patton barely spoke to each other. Logan struggled to hold everyone together. And Remy watched his cousin for any signs of change.

And there had been changes. Whenever they asked, Thomas always informed them that the Fae still slumbered, but parts of him emerged here and there.

Thomas nearly tripped going down the stairs one day. Tangible shadows sprouted from his skin to catch his fall. After stabilizing him, they sank back inside. Thomas had been over the moon by the new development while everyone else freaked out, believing the Fae to be ready to make a reappearance.

“No, he’s still sleeping,” Thomas told them. He hugged himself happily. “He’s just keeping me safe.”

Logan performed more spells with lackluster results.

Remy actually _tried _to push his divination abilities as far as they would go, but nothing new arose.

“There’s still two distinct auras,” Remy reported to Logan. “They’re just so intertwined, there’s no way that we could force them apart without hurting both of them.”

Thomas thought they were all being silly for their seriousness. He looked at Remy at dinner that night and asked why he wasn’t eating.

“Just worried about you, hun,” Remy told him truthfully. He didn’t have an appetite right now. He’d rather watch over his cousin. “I’ll eat later.”

“That’s dumb, you should eat now,” Thomas told him and pushed his own plate across the table towards Remy. “Here, you can have some of mine.”

And Remy nibbled on some of it because it made the child happy. Thomas smiled at him, and that wasn’t something Remy had really seen in weeks. Not since his parents died and left him an orphan.

Remy loved his aunt and uncle, missed them dearly, but Thomas? He’d been devastated at the news. He threw tantrums. Demanded to see his parents. Begged Logan to fix it. Cried when nothing could bring them back. He’d been inconsolable, ignored even Remy’s attempts to comfort him and chose to sulk in his room.

Now a Fae had turned that around and Thomas was smiling again.

Remy had so many mixed feelings about this that he’d rather sleep it all away than sort them out.

More incidents occurred after the near-trip episode.

Thomas discovered he could see in the dark. He excitedly showed the others by getting them to shut out all the light. After a few seconds the darkness in Thomas’s aura whipped around, like he was drawing from it, and Thomas’s eyes began to glow softly.

“That’s the same color the Fae…” Patton trailed off.

“His eyes were purple and green too,” Logan agreed.

“You should stop doing that, Thomas,” Roman said. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with.”

“But why?” Thomas asked.

“It could be hurting you.”

“But it’s not! I’m just seeing in the dark.”

“That Fae did something to you, Thomas. Using it’s powers could make it worse.”

“He’s just sharing them with me!” Thomas argued. “You just don’t want me using them because you don’t like, Mr. Virge.”

“Thomas,” Logan spoke, drawing back the heavy curtains to let the light in once more. The darkness in Thomas’s aura slithered back down, no longer needed. “Roman’s words do not just stem from a personal bias—that is to say, Roman isn’t just saying this to be purposefully mean. We don’t know the full affect of what the F—what Mr. Virge did to you. So we must be careful. Do you understand?”

Thomas was crestfallen. He’d come to show them his cool new powers with excited intentions and now they were scolding him. “No, I don’t understand.”

“Did it look like it was hurting him?” Patton asked, and it took a second before Remy realized he was being addressed.

“Not really.” Remy shrugged. “It just made the dark spots…more active for a minute? He’s still sleeping, right Cous?”

“Mm-hm.”

“I don’t know what to tell you then, babes,” Remy said. “I just know that I don’t like this either.”

“Well,” Patton sighed. He stood close to Thomas, petting at his hair. “How about this kiddo, if you find out any more of these new tricks you can do, come get one of us, okay? We don’t want you doing this alone. Can you do that for me?”

“I guess,” Thomas murmured, pouting. “He’s not bad, honest.”

More spooky occurrences happened.

Thomas wanted to go visit the horses’ stable one day, something he liked to do a lot since the kid adored animals. The horses spooked as soon as Thomas got near them. They reared back on their legs, braying in what could only be terror, kicking at their surroundings. A couple of them managed to get loose as they panicked and fled. Thomas wasn’t allowed to go see the horses after that.

At odd hours of the night, Thomas kept wanting to sneak out of his new bedroom and walk around. He would be restless until someone took him outside for a while. It wasn’t until he could touch the ground barefooted that he would relax.

“She talks a lot,” Thomas told his older cousin.

“Who?”

“The night. She talks a lot.”

“She?”

“Yeah, I dunno.”

“What…does she say?”

“I dunno, just a lot. It’s not really like…words? It’s just a lot, and I can’t sleep until I come talk back.”

On and on the instances occurred, the most frequent being the shadows coming out. Those were something Thomas claimed happened on their own, and they were always there to help him.

Unfortunately, abilities like that couldn’t be looked over, and the remaining castle staff were wary of the little prince. The cooks didn’t like Thomas coming into the kitchen anymore to watch them work. They said they would stay and continue to work, but only if Thomas was kept safely away from them. The maids too whispered whenever Thomas came around. It was their job to tend to the castle and any who lived there, but they took it to the next level, afraid to displease the prince in the slightest. The guards, uncertain of what the prince had become, held themselves stiffly as if ready to draw their sword on a child.

They didn’t see Thomas anymore. They saw a Fae in human skin.

“I think they’re scared of Mr. Virge,” Thomas sadly confided in Remy one day.

Remy didn’t have the heart to tell him that he wasn’t quite right.

* * *

Remy sat in Logan’s study, miserable and showing it only because he was alone. Logan had finally left to go to the college with Joan. He seemed to regard the student highly, which was not an easy feat.

“Aren’t you not supposed to play favorites, Teach,” Remy had teased.

“I suppose, but they’ve shown incredible cleverness and dedication. They possess a great deal of promise, and if events run smoothly this year, I plan to take them on as my personal apprentice.”

Logan had never singled out an apprentice like that. It said a lot about Joan.

Remy had wished him luck and let him leave, pretending that he would be leaving right behind him. However, Remy ducked back into Logan’s office once he left and slumped down at the wizard’s too large and too cluttered desk. He laid his head against the cool expanse of wood, and he nudged a few papers and pencils out of place just to be a nuisance.

It was nice to see Logan just a little bit happy, just a little bit back to normal. The man had been working himself to death as of late.

But Remy had too. Dealing with political affairs had never been his thing, and lately he’d been swamped by it, ever since his aunt and uncle were…

A lot of people wanted Remy’s dad to step up and take charge. Thomas wasn’t old enough yet, and the next in line would be Remy’s father, the brother of the former queen. But Larry was not a man fit for the political spotlight and had been more than satisfied with his sister ruling. To be honest, he’d be too soft for it, and Remy loved him all the same for it. His mom could definitely do it, but people still had problems with his dad marrying Dot the farmhand girl. Remy could easily imagine her standing up to the city council and telling them to get their shit together.

So then there was Remy. The care-free, blind prince that people didn’t really talk about without mentioning all the parties he attended. So what? Just because he had noble blood didn’t mean he didn’t know how to have fun, and somehow having fun was synonymous with being irresponsible.

Those that knew him though, they wanted him to become the de-facto heir. Larry wouldn’t unless absolutely forced; he’d rather leave it all up to the council until Thomas was old enough to be crowned. With those two out for the count, eyes were turning on Remy, and Remy hadn’t even thrown his name up for discussion!

“They should just let you rule,” Remy had told Logan the other day after the prince had come back from a very strenuous meeting with the city council.

Logan had scoffed as if believing the idea to be far-fetched, but honestly? Who better? Logan had his hands in so many cookie jars—literally was the sole entrepreneur for making and running the kingdom’s first wizardry school. When the council wanted to initiate a draft on wizards for the Fae War, it was Logan who steered them away from utilizing them for direct combat and towards more safer areas, like for medical, communications, etc. Not to mention he’d been an advisor to the royal family for over a decade now. The man was _smart_ and knew how to play in the field as if he were a politician himself.

“Why not Roman, then?” Logan had suggested, deflecting the issue away from himself. “He’s quickly become a household name. ‘The hero of Selbion’, or whatever they call him.”

“Roman’s popular and good for fighting but not much else,” Remy had replied snidely. “…okay, that was kinda harsh, I admit I’m a bitch. I’ll give Roman credit, but can you really imagine him as a king? He doesn’t think things through enough unless it’s a battlefield.”

“…he’s a good general,” Logan said, which really just summed up his thoughts on Roman as king.

“Fuck it, if you don’t wanna do it either, let’s just make Patton king.”

“Agreed.”

Remy groaned into his arms thinking about it all. Too much stress. Too much yammering and nobody doing enough. He closed his tired eyes, wishing to fall asleep right there at the desk. Too many sleepless nights spent watching over his cousin. Remy had earned a quick nap, right?

The door slammed open.

“Is that the universe telling me no?” Remy griped. He sat up and turned around. He immediately lost the attitude and jumped up when he saw his mother standing hunched over at the doorway, shoulders heaving as she caught her breath.

“Logan,” she asked, him. “Where’s Logan?”

“He left—what’s going on, Ma?”

“Oh my god,” Dot shook her head, a hand at her chest. Remy gripped her shoulders.

“Did you run here?” Remy asked incredulously.

“Where is he? We’ve got to—Rem, it’s Thomas!”

“What? What happened?” Remy swore if that kid sprouted another creepy shadow tentacle.

But this wasn’t a joke. His mother gripped his wrists and looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

“That Fae. The one—the one you said—in Thomas? He’s back. He appeared—and Larry, your father—he wouldn’t leave—oh, Rem—”

Remy felt ice wash down his back, quick and without mercy. But that’s how the big traumas of life often went.

He didn’t have time to process. They needed to move.

“Where’s Patton?” he demanded.

“With Thomas.”

“Good. Logan left for the college, but you might be able to catch him in time. Grab whoever you see first and tell them to run and get him. I’ll get Thomas.”

“Wh—Remy, wait!” Dot tried to grab her son but he slipped by her. “What are you doing! Get back here!”

“Just do it!” Remy called, already heading down the hall.

Remy didn’t wait to see if his mother followed his directions. He knew she would. Nothing was more important than her family, and Remy didn’t get his clever-streak from anywhere. His mom would get Logan.

And Remy would get to Thomas before another tragedy could happen, simply because none of them could take anymore.

* * *

Patton wasn’t a magic user. He didn’t possess a magical bone in his body.

And his body? He’d been the scrawniest kid. At a young age, he told his parents he wanted to become a knight and protect people. They thought him silly, like the jokes he’d tell to make the people he loved smile.

Patton didn’t have magic or a body naturally inclined for fighting. But what he did have was a whole lotta heart.

He’d spent years of training to get where he stood today. He’d kissed the dirt more times than he could count. Had cried when his limbs felt like nothing more than strapped anvils. Had known utter exhaustion as if it were an old friend.

But Patton got back up. Every time he fell, every time someone told him to just lay down, that he wasn’t cut out for this—he rose again every time.

He was recognized for his tenacity and given a position as a castle guard. To others, they mocked him for all the talks of dreams only to waste away with a cushiony guard job. But they didn’t see it like Patton did.

To the brave soldiers who risked their lives at the borders, to those who were sent to places like the city-turned-fortress Alaford—Patton gave his utmost respect.

But home was where the heart was and it needed protecting too.

Patton wanted to protect everyone, and this was the best place he knew how to. The king and queen were gone, but Thomas remained, and the prince had all of Patton’s devotion. And after the night of the Fae’s infiltration on the castle, Patton had reaffirmed his belief that he was right where he was meant to be.

Except, lately he’d questioned if others weren’t meant to be where they were.

Patton remembered the night he’d fought alongside the dark Fae. Mr. Virge, or so Thomas called him. You chose your allies quick in the midst of battle, and Patton always did have a knack for reading character…

Virge had seemed…almost normal, you know? Like Patton had always known him. Just another guard protecting the heart of the castle. He hadn’t let any of the other Fae lay a hand on Thomas. And more than that, he’d made sure they hadn’t gotten to Patton or anyone else as much as he could.

No one else would go near Virge once he’d been downed. The Fae with the axe, his body had laid there. The other one broke away from the fight with a feral scream and ran into the night not to be seen again. A quiet didn’t settle on those left behind. There had been too much crying for that, too much fear and pain.

Patton took it upon himself to see to the Fae who had quite possibly saved all of them. If the axe one had killed Patton… Logan was good, but against two at once?

He didn’t want to think about it. He had let others see to Roman and Logan make sense of the chaos left behind. Remy had Thomas safely with him. So Patton did his best to staunch the bleeding until someone else could take over.

Fae didn’t look so different from regular people when they were lying unconscious on the ground smattered in red. Virge’s ears were pointed, his limbs somewhat willowy and skin too pale. But other than that? Patton just thought he looked too young to die.

He’d been overwhelmed with relief when Logan agreed to keep him contained within the castle.

Roman had been . . . another story.

He’d urged Logan to ‘dispose of it’.

_Dispose_.

Patton knew where his friend was coming from. He _knew _the helpless look in his eyes every time he came back home from the battlefront despite how much he tried to hide it with broad smiles.

But Virge had looked just as helpless lying on that cot.

Roman had told them all the stories of the demons from the forest. Patton had finally seen firsthand how monstrous they could be.

Yet for all of that, the injured Fae had clung to Thomas as if the boy were a teddy bear. He’d sobbed the same way Thomas had after losing his parents. He’d begged to hold on as Thomas was wrenched away, begged like those who’d tasted sunlight for the first time only to be shoved back into the dark.

Patton had stood there questioning what he’d been taught as wrong and right. He’d stood there as he watched the Fae’s bandages soil in fresh blood, the shock from the enchanted circle proving to be too much for someone who’d been so close to death’s reach.

Was Patton supposed to raise his sword against that?

And that had given Thomas enough time to make it back to Virge and seal the deal.

Patton didn’t know what to think after that. Roman blamed him, and maybe he was right to.

Maybe Patton blamed himself too.

Patton spent the following days around Thomas. No one had told him to resume his usual schedule, so he stayed by the prince’s side.

Every time Thomas’s eyes glowed or a shadow snaked out of his skin, Patton prayed to God that he hadn’t messed up so completely. Thomas didn’t deserve to pay for any of their mistakes.

But the child was happy—happier than he’d been in weeks. Patton held tight to that.

And today, Patton sat with Thomas and his uncle and aunt. Thomas had been feeling rather energetic today, and Prince Larry attempted to settle his nephew down with a bout of storytelling.

“On the second day, nothing happened. But on the third day, a face reflected in the water,” Larry spoke. A delighted smirk danced on his face. Roman could spin a good story, but Thomas’s favorite storyteller would always be his uncle.

“What did the traveler do?” Thomas gasped.

“The traveler stopped by the lake and listened to the spirit. It told him, ‘Sir, I am not a fish, stop trying to feed me bread crumbs.’”

Dot smacked her husband’s arm. “That’s not how the story goes, Larry.”

“How do you know? You’ve never heard this one!”

“I know because you’re doing that thing with your eyes.”

“What thing? I don’t do a thing!”

Patton and Thomas laughed at their typical lapse of bickering. Eventually though, Patton noticed Thomas had stopped paying attention. He stared into the air, lost in deep thought.

“Whatchya thinking about there, kiddo?” Patton asked.

Thomas didn’t respond. His head remained slightly tilted, eyes glazing over and mouth hung a little open.

“Thomas?” he tried again. He reached out to touch his shoulder, but Thomas sat unfazed.

“What’s wrong?” Larry asked, cutting off the bickering faster than they’d normally let it go on. “Is he having one of his—you know, episodes?”

“I don’t know,” Patton said honestly. He leaned forward, moving to position himself right in front of Thomas.

Thomas came back to himself but just barely. He jumped to his feet, and before Patton could do anything more, he pulled away and began pacing around the room. His head turned in this and that direction, as if searching for something but his eyes didn’t lose the glaze.

“Thomas?” Patton called. He debated whether he should pick the prince up and take him to Logan and Remy, or if he should wait it out, maybe ask Larry and Dot to go get the others.

Thomas’s pacing increased, never taking the same route, going around the coffee table, the sofas, until finally he fled to the corner by the window. He faced the wall, hands knocking at the paneling rapidly.

_Tap, tap, tap, tap_.

“Thomas, baby, you need to talk to us,” Dot tried, approaching him.

She froze a few feet away when the space around Thomas began pulsing. A black veil had fallen over him, and it pulsed in increasing intensity.

“Honey, go get Logan,” Larry told her.

Thomas stopped tapping suddenly.

“Oh...” the boy let out quietly. “He’s awake.”

The stretch of his shadow on the floor darkened to pitch. A white hand burst out from the middle of it, claw-like nails scrambling for purchase on the floor.

“Dot, go now,” Larry said.

Dot took a shaky step back. Then another. She kept the pale hand and emerging arm in sight until Patton stood between it and her. Only then did she turn and run from the room.

“Shouldn’t—shouldn’t you strike first? Before it…” Larry whispered, and Patton could hear the fear he bravely swallowed down.

Sword drawn, Patton stood his ground, not daring to inch closer. “I can’t risk anything that’ll hurt Thomas. Remy said they’re bonded.”

“What do we do then?” Larry asked. His eyes widened more when another hand popped out.

“Try to talk with him, I guess,” Patton said, trying his best to sound sure of himself. “We were able to talk to him before, but we don’t know what state he’s in now.”

The rest of the second arm rose up, the new hand struggling to grip at the floor rather than sink back into the shadow. The top of a dark head of hair bobbed up into view.

“Get behind me,” Patton spoke soft but sharp.

Larry stepped back as silent as he could.

The Fae was half made of shadows himself, his body reforming into a humanoid shape. His head twisted back, and Patton saw one purple eye fluttering sluggishly. Thomas stood staring at the wall the entire time.

Patton didn’t have magic to help him here. He wasn’t the most experienced of soldiers.

He just followed his instincts and stayed still, letting the Fae find himself again. Virge crawled up out of the dark pond and fell against the floor with a half grunt, half growl. He hissed, head shaking and black locks of hair flopping around. He kept his face ducked down, but when enough of his body had reformed Patton noted that he wore the same clothes he’d been wearing when he disappeared into Thomas. That is, he had on a black set of pants and the soiled bandages wrapped around his chest.

Virge coughed once, twice, body shuddering. He fell to his side before flopping over onto his back. His breathing came heavy, eyes dazed.

Thomas finally turned around. His brows furrowed and he searched the ground. His gaze locked onto Virge on the floor. Patton carefully kept watch as the prince shuffled over to stare down at the Fae. Virge tilted his head, bangs falling into his eyes as he stared back.

Thomas frowned, serious. “That was weird.”

“What?” Virge asked, and it was clear as day the Fae was confused. He glanced over Thomas and then over himself. He stared at his own hand uncomprehendingly, then patted at his chest. “What?” he said again.

Thomas’s frown broke into an amused giggle. “You took a really long nap.”

“Thomas?” Virge asked, raising his head up a bit, eyes squinting in disbelief.

“Now that you’re awake, can you play games with me?”

Virge’s head plopped back down. He groaned. “What happened? Is this death? Am I dead?”

Thomas laughed again and knelt down beside him. He pushed at his arm. “You’re not dead, silly! You just woke up!”

“I—” Virge began to say but he caught sight of Patton. Patton by this point had lowered his sword.

“What are you doing?” Larry hissed from behind him.

“I don’t think I need this,” Patton said, then made it clear he was addressing the Fae, “do I?”

“I—” Virge faltered, and what a wonderfully human expression he made. It settled the clamor in Patton’s heart. “What happened to me? What did you guys do?”

“Us?” Patton couldn’t help but chuckle. “Do you not remember?”

“Remember what?” Virge asked cautiously. “It’s…it’s daytime. How long has it been?”

“A couple weeks, give or take some days.”

“You’ve been sleeping reaaally long.” Thomas nodded.

“Did…did I not die then?” Virge asked. He blinked in realization and scratched off the bandages. Underneath, the skin showed only the lightest of scarring. The wounds had completely healed.

“You made a deal with Thomas,” Patton pointed out.

Again, Virge reacted in bafflement. “I did?” But this time he sat up on his elbows to stare at Thomas, memories processing. “I…I did…you said…”

“I said you could stay if you got better!” Thomas cheered and launched himself at Virge. His arms squeezed around the Fae’s neck and, unprepared, he fell backwards again. His arms hovered in the air uncertainly. “You get to stay with me, Mr. Virge! Isn’t that great? You can live here in the castle with us! Oh, Pat, Uncle Larry, can he stay in my room with me? Please? He can, right?”

“Just a minute, Thomas,” Patton interrupted the excited chatter. Virge appeared utterly perplexed, and they still needed to sort this out. “Virge, right? We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Virge opened his mouth and closed it just as fast. He looked down at Thomas, eyes shining in disbelief at the happy child. He sat upright, but Thomas refused to move away so he ended up with a lap full of six-year-old. He didn’t look particularly concerned about it either.

“The deal worked then,” Virge commented, unable to tear his gaze away from Thomas. “I didn’t think it would.”

“Why not?” Thomas questioned.

Virge shrugged. “Things don’t usually work out for me.”

The sound of racing footsteps approached the room. Patton didn’t want to let the Fae out of his sights enough to look behind himself, but he heard Larry exclaim, “Remy! Where’s Logan?”

“On the way? Hopefully?” Remy huffed from his sprint. He stepped up beside Patton, ignoring his father’s warnings. “So you’re back, Mr.-on-the-verge-of-giving-me-a-heart-attack.”

Meanwhile, Virge completely ignored Remy’s dramatic entrance. That or he was too far gone in the realization that he had survived. He was too busy hugging and rocking Thomas happily while the prince giggled.

“Don’t just ignore me, sis!” Remy yelled and marched up to the Fae. Patton raised a hand to perhaps stop him, but there was no stopping Remy when he was on a war path. He grabbed the Fae by one of his elongated, pointed ears and tugged harshly on it. “Pay attention to me when I’m chewing you out!”

“_Ow_!” Virge growled, but rather than react with any kind of violence, he yanked his head away and held Thomas closer, angling his body away from the rest of them protectively. He leveled an unhappy stare at Remy. “What do you want?”

“What do I want?” Remy nearly screamed. “How about an explanation! Do you know how worried sick we were about Thomas after you pulled that stunt? Now spill, I want to know all the dirty details of your little deal.”

“I got to stay with Thomas,” Virge grunted, head turned away petulantly. “That’s all there is to it.”

“Not when you crawl out of his shadow like a creepy cookie,” Patton commented.

Virge blinked and looked at Thomas and around the boy. “Did I?”

“You don’t remember? It just happened.”

“I mean…it’s kinda blurry? I just woke up and…and it was dark, like I was floating in water…”

Remy got frustrated again. Patton watched them argue, watched the way the uncertainty had yet to leave Virge’s expression and how he held Thomas like a teddy bear once more.

“Did you know that would happen?” Patton interrupted.

Virge glanced at him over the top of Thomas’s head. He’d taken to half hiding his face in the curly hair there.

It was admittedly a sweet image. Patton couldn’t help but smile just a little. “When you made the deal, did you know that was going to happen? That you would…merge with Thomas?”

Virge hummed, brows pinched contemplatively. “I…I just wanted to stay… I didn’t think much past that. So… No, I didn’t know what would happen after we made the deal. How could I when I didn’t even think I’d live long enough for it to work? I don’t remember anything after it was sealed. Thought I fell into the last sleep.”

“Is that possible?” Larry asked from behind Patton. “For a Fae to not know the outcome of a deal they made?”

Patton wanted to say that he didn’t know, that there wasn’t enough information on deals with the Fae only that you were never to initiate one with them, lest you lose more than you gain.

But at that time, a familiar cloud of midnight blue formed in the room. Patton noticed Virge flinch back towards the wall with Thomas, lips pulled back in a threatening snarl at a potential enemy.

“I assume that you’re at least having a somewhat civilized conversation, seeing as no blood has been spilled,” Logan’s collected voice washed over the room as he stepped out from the cloud. The portal disappeared behind him and he stood tall. Although he would appear calm to others, those that knew him would know how tense he held himself.

“You’re late,” Remy noted, hand on hip.

Logan’s tone turned downright monotone. “At this rate I’ll never leave the castle.”

Patton kept his attention on the Fae. Virge didn’t move to attack, but he didn’t relax either at the sight of the wizard. “Virge, he won’t fight if you don’t. You don’t want to fight, do you?”

Virge glanced between him and the wizard before shaking his head.

Thomas popped his head out of the protective cage of Virge’s arm. “No fighting! We’re friends! Friends don’t fight!”

“Oh you naïve summer child,” Remy remarked.

“But he’s not doing anything bad!” Thomas argued. He turned to Logan. “Please Logan? Mr. Virge isn’t doing anything bad.”

“That remains to be seen,” Logan said.

“I don’t think he even knows what he did really,” Patton told him. At Logan’s questioning look, he elaborated. “The deal, he said he didn’t know what would happen after he made it. I guess the whole ‘staying with Thomas’ point was a broad condition.”

“Truly?” Logan asked the Fae. “You made a deal with his Royal Highness unaware of what would follow?”

Virge cleared his throat and answered, “Yes, I didn’t know what would happen after I made the deal.”

“You had no idea that you would bond yourself with him?”

“I just said I didn’t know.”

“How is that possible? You are a Fae. How can you be ignorant of the consequences of your deal-making?”

“I don’t know, okay?!” Virge shouted. He recoiled after, eyes widening at his own aggressiveness. Upon seeing that no one would strike him, he lowered his voice. “I’ve never made a deal before. I’ve never wanted to.”

“And yet you did with Thomas.”

“I just wanted to stay with him,” Virge said, and his head slumped down to rest on top of Thomas’s. “I have nowhere else to go. Hate me all you want, but he doesn’t. I wish to stay by his side.”

Thomas seemed absolutely delighted by the idea. He started rambling to Virge about all the things they could do together now that he was awake. Thomas could show him all the coolest spots around the castle, and they could watch the cooks bake cookies, and they could visit the library and read stories together.

And Virge looked like he wanted nothing more than to do all of that, if the smile of contentment on his face was anything to go by.

“Logan,” Patton called to him. “I think we should give him a chance.”

“As in let him remain here at the castle?” Logan reiterated. “I’m sure all of Selbion will be at ease when they find out we’re housing a Fae and he’s attached at the hip with the prince. Roman especially will be happy to hear the news.”

“Well, Roman’s just going to have to get over it,” Patton said with a grin. “Trust me, I can feel it in the bones of my heart that this is the right thing to do.”

“Your heart does not have bones, Patton.”

“If he stays, he’s not running around shirtless everywhere,” Remy commented. “That’s just wild-boy tacky.”

“Remy, we’re talking about letting a _Fae_ stay here.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve got eyes,” Remy said, then he snickered. “Wait, I actually don’t. Have eyes. You get what I mean. Virge here _did _save a lot of us against a Fae invasion. And I don’t think he’s a threat really, just an idiot.”

“_Hey_,” the Fae in question seethed for a moment before glancing at Thomas. “Okay, that’s a little fair.”

“I say he can stay. And don’t look at me like that, Pops. Your son knows what he’s doing.”

Larry shook his head and rubbed at his face. “Your mother’s going to pitch a fit. At _all _of us.”

“Nothing new,” Remy chuckled. “But yeah, seriously, you need actual clothes. Probably a bath too. Do Fae even wash their hair?”

“I’m not an _animal_,” Virge grumbled.

And with that, they had fallen into agreement. Virge would remain there in the castle.

* * *

The Fae War will continue for decades to come.

The blind prince will become king out of necessity.

For years, Selbion will hold fast against the encroachment of the Fae.

And when old enough, the true heir will take his rightful place after his cousin graciously abdicates.

People will gossip about the rumors of magical power the king possesses, not granted by birth but through fairy dealings.

They will speak of the shadow that follows him wherever he goes.

And more than that, they will praise him for years to come after he ends the Fae War.

But that’s another story entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! There are surely many more adventures the gang will go through, and not all the loose ends have been unraveled yet, but this is the end for now. ^_^


End file.
